Bullet proof face shield and method of using same

ABSTRACT

A bullet proof face shield which can be mounted on any weapons equipped vehicle whose placement is adjusted using a track/rail system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a bullet proof face shield located on atrack/rail system that can be universally mounted to weapon equippedvehicles and method of using same.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It is only common sense that when exposed to hostile weapon fire, ashield to deflect incoming ballistic projectiles is desired. There aremany examples of such shields in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,524,issued to John Nepper for “Guardsman Shield for Opposably Parrying aHostile Assailant” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0110933, issuedto Alfred Baker for “Ballistic Shield and Methods of Use”, both involvea shield that is designed to be hand held. U.S. Pat. No. 2,215,204issued to G. C. Young for “Firearm Shield” and U.S. Patent PublicationNo. 2007/0056986 issued to Stephen Berman for Water Gun with RetractableSpring Loaded Shield” both disclose shields that are designed to bemounted to the weapon itself. U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,807 issued to SandorHajdu for “Bullet Proof Shield Assembly” and U.S. Patent Publication No.2003/0221355 issued to Nicholas Castaldo for “Articulating, Shell CasingDeflection and Collections Apparatus” depict a shield that is eitherdesigned to be staked into the ground or clamped to the edge of a table.U.S. Patent Publication 2007/0131103, issued to Dale McClellan for“Protective Ballistic Weapons Stands and Transparent Shields Useabletherewith” discloses a shield that is mounted on the weapons swivelplate so as the weapon swivels, the shield swivels as well. What theprior art does not disclose is an apparatus which can be universallymounted to any vehicle wherein the adjustment in the shield placement isaccomplished through a rail/track system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a shieldthat can be mounted to any vehicle. It is a further object to providethat the placement of the shield can be accomplished using a track/railsystem. Other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description when viewed inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which set forth certainembodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 depicts the present invention from a frontal orientation showingthe shield located on the track/rail system.

FIGS. 2 illustrates a more detailed image of the track/rail system.

FIGS. 3 depicts the present invention from a side view showing theshield located on the track/rail system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein.It should be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments aremerely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in variousforms. Therefore, the details disclosed herein are not to be interpretedas limiting, but merely as the basis for the claims and as a basis forteaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention.

Shown in FIG. 1 is the face shield [1] of the present invention mountedonto the track/rail system [2]. The objective of the present inventionis to allow forward and rearward adjustment of the face shield [1]. Thisadjustment could be accomplished using any conventional means. Forexample, the height of a basketball backboards is adjusted by moving asmaller structure, e.g. a round pipe, through a bigger structure, abigger pipe. This is referred to a telescoping and the two structures donot need to be round as in a pipe but can be of any shape so long as thetwo shapes are the same and one is just slightly smaller than the other.With the current invention, the face shield [1] could be mounted to oneof the structures for instance the bigger pipe and adjusted forward orbackward through sliding, telescoping, such pipe over the smaller pipe.

Another perhaps less conventional means for adjustment would be toattach the face shield [1] to the end of an arm made up of many smallerarms attached to each other by hinges. In its most rearward position,the arms would be folded onto each other. The distance forward orrearward of the face shield would be adjusted by unfolding the necessaryamount of smaller arms.

In the present invention, the adjustment of the face shield [1] isaccomplished by using a track/rail system [2] such as that shown in FIG.2. It is important to recognize that for the purposes of this invention,the specifics of the track/rail [2] system are not critical. Forexample, neither the size nor number of the “teeth” [8] are important.What is important is that there is a track [9] in a rail [10] withcorresponding teeth [8] in both. To bring the face shield [1] closer toa person's face, the face shield [1] is moved using the adjustment arm[3].

The face shield [1] can be attached to the track/rail system [2] usingany conventional means such as by bolting or welding the shield to thetrack/rail system. Likewise, the face shield [1] could either be rigidlyattached to the track/rail system [2] or attached in such a manner as toallow the face shield [1] to rotate around the attachment point. Asshown in FIG. 3, in the present invention, the face shield [1] islocated perpendicular to the track/rail system [2] using a shieldattachment plate [4]. The face shield [1] is then rigidly attached tothe shield attachment plate [4] using any conventional means such asthrough the bolts shown in FIG. 3. The shield attachment plate [4] isthen connected to the rail [10] which rides along the track [9]. Teeth[8] in the rail [10] engage corresponding teeth [8] in the track [9]. Inthe present invention, an adjustment arm [3] which acts like a crank, isrotated moving the rail [10] forward or rearward depending on thedirection of the rotation.

The entire face shield apparatus is mounted to a weapons equippedvehicle using any conventional means such as through welding or bybolting such apparatus directly to the vehicle. The face shield [1] canbe made of any bullet proof material such as flass or acrylic. The faceshield [1] can be made to be completely clear or be made in a way thatonly the weapon user can se out and that no one can see such user, i.e.,one way.

While the preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it willbe understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by suchdisclosure, but rather, is intended to cover all modifications andalternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A bullet proof face shield which can be mounted to any vehicle, and ameans for adjusting such shield away from a face or towards such face.2. The bullet proof face shield of claim 1 wherein the means ofadjustment comprises a track/rail system.
 3. The bullet proof shield ofclaim 2 wherein the track/rail system comprises a track with teeth; arail with teeth; and a means for moving the rail along the track.
 4. Thebullet proof face shield of claim 3 wherein the means for moving therail along the track is rotating crank.
 5. The bullet proof shield ofclaim 4 wherein the bullet proof shield is made of material that permitsvision in only one direction.
 6. The bullet proof shield of claim 5wherein said shield is pivotally attached to the track/rail system. 7.The bullet proof shield of claim 5 wherein said shield is rotatablyattached to the track/rail system.
 8. A method of using a bullet proofface shield comprising the steps of attaching said face shield to atrack/rail system and adjusting the face shield forward or rearwardalong the track/rail system.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the bulletproof face shield is made of material that only permits vision in onedirection only.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the face shield ispivotally attached to the track/rail system.
 11. The method of claim 9wherein the face shield is rotatably attached to the track/rail system.